Double teams, press defense, traps — the 3A Narrows MVP has seen it all this year while leading Wilson in scoring (24.9 points per game). There’s cross hairs on the Rams senior guard’s back as teams fight to keep him contained.

When the defending district champions opened this year’s tournament facing the SPSL’s Sumner in the West Central District III boys basketball district playoffs, Jenkins did what he does best.

He found the back door.

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“I knew they were going to come with the double team. And I also knew Sumner plays really hard and aggressive. They also foul real hard,” Jenkins said. “At the same time, I knew I could trust in my teammates and let them do all the dirty work.”

Quick thinking and even quicker passes from Jenkins helped Wilson (17-4, 12-2) pick up an opening-round win, 68-46, over Sumner (13-8, 7-7) at Wilson High. The Rams will move on to play Seamount’s Kennedy Catholic after the Lancers defeated Kelso, 70-42.

Jenkins led with eight assists in the Rams’ win.

“He’s really crafty. He doesn’t look like he’s super quick, but he’s really crafty,” Wilson coach Dave Alwert said. “He made the right play. He didn’t just create for himself, he made the right play. … We moved the ball really well against (Sumner’s) double team.”

Junior guard Nathaniel Stokes benefited the most from Jenkins’ distribution, finishing second in scoring with 16 points.

“I told my teammates, in the beginning I got us here making winning shots, but they’re going to have to bring it home,” Jenkins said. “Teams in the playoffs start playing really good (defense) … so I knew this is a game where I needed to get my teammates involved and get them their buckets.”

“Teams then when that’s going on will start taking off the double, and then I can start trying to get mine.”

He got his and then some.

Being doubled or not, Jenkins was not going to be denied from behind the arc Wednesday night, as he simply created his shot all night against Sumner’s tight defensive style.

“Every time they could take advantage of us, they did. Especially Jenkins,” Sumner coach Brett McDaniel said. “He’s a heck of a player, man. One of the best players I’ve seen in this area … I think it’s tough to simulate at practice. It’s tough to simulate a kid like him.”

The Rams standout finished with a game-high 25 points on 6 of 10 shooting from the field, while going a perfect 5 for 5 from the 3-point line. Every one of Jenkins’ 3-pointers came on a pull-up jumper, five feet beyond the arc.

“He’s hard to stay in front of. The best of the best have a hard time staying in front of him. So you go to give him that extra step. And then he’s got such a quick release, he pulls it up real fast — it makes the defender looks like he’s back. But the coverage is pretty tight,” Alwert said.

Luke Ross (4 for 8 from the 3-point line) led Sumner in scoring with 12 points.

Wilson faces Kennedy (15-6, 12-2) at 6 p.m. at Clover Park this Friday. Sumner will face Kelso (8-13, 2-4) at Washington High in a loser-out game on Friday.